Erdogan Says NATO Cannot Sustain Itself Without Turkey

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 22nd June, 2021) NATO cannot protect its power and sustain itself without Turkey, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday following a cabinet meeting.

"In this summit, it was once again understood that NATO cannot only protect its power but also even can't sustain itself without Turkey. We underlined that our expectation from NATO and our allies is to show an approach in every field as considering Turkey's importance and contribution," Erdogan said after a cabinet meeting.

He underlined the rising importance of the alliance and the NATO 2030 initiative to reform the bloc.

On the other hand, he also had criticism for NATO. According to him, the alliance has been incapable of behaving as a safety umbrella for events of the last 10 years.

Erdogan last week joined the 2021 NATO Summit in Brussels. He also met with US President Joe Biden during the summit for the first time. This comes after Turkey-US relations have deteriorated in recent years due to a number of issues, including Turkey's purchase of the Russian-made S-400 air defense systems, Biden's Armenian genocide statement in April, and the US's support for the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia, considered by Turkey a terrorist organization.